The Warner sun. (Warner, Brown Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1885-1???, 1887-02-04

ner lap, her eyes closed, and her head
nodding forward, while her knitting,
eluding her otherwise ousy fingers, was
slowly sliding over the lilac edge. The
gay woods were already scattered in
bright p~rofusion on the grass, for q
tiny black kitten with impish eyes was
making the most of its opportunities.
1t seized the blue ball in its mouth,
shook it, and carried it a little way,
when a long string of pale yellow,
cleaning on the grass, attracted its at
Gention. The blue ball was instantly
abandoned, and away it went, catch
ing its little feet in the red and brown,
and rolling over and over in its efforts
to get free again.
What q little torment that kitten
was! Aunt Judy could keep nothing
tidy. 1t was everlastingly in her work
basket upsetting everything; and only
yesterday, when the rector was drink
ing tea with her, that unluckly kitten,
seized with an inquisitive fit, clam
bered up the back of the old lady's
chair and came tumbling down into
the very middle OF her cup.
When Gabrielle, her dear long lost
neice's daughter, came down a week to
stay with her, Aunt Judy had'said:
"Now, Gay, my dear, / shall expect
you to keep your eye upon that kit
ten, for / neve can tell what it's GO
ing to do next"
And from that time Gay had kept
her eye upon the kitten, anticipating
every contemplated raid on Aunt Ju-
dy's property, except upon that one
occasion of the rector's visit. But to-
day Gay had altogether forgotten her
duty. There she was, high in the fern
walk, sitting on q large stone, her head
in her hand, a letter on her knee.
1t was a letter from Barbara-a
long, affectionate letter, such as girls
love. After a lengthy account of the
tournament and the dance that fol-
lowed, Barbara went on to say:
"By the way, do you remember
Theodore Marston-Ted Marston,
you know-who went away to Austria
liza, suddenly aver so long ago? Well,
he is come back, and we met him last
night He sang with Francesca, and
after a while he said:
"tYour sister GAYS not here, is
Sll0! 1SupDOSS BIG 10 IldETl6u.
"'Oh, mol said Francesca in that
Ingenious way of hers, she isn't mar
ried; we none of US are. She is down
in the country, staying with Aunt Jul
dy. She is quite altered-not at all
the sort of girl she was when you
were here, when we first called her
Gay, you know. What made you
think she was married?"
81 dou't know said Mr.. Ted, hes
itatingly. i heard-that Is, /
thought
"And when Francesca, who was de-
termined to get at the right of it,
asked what he heard, it turned
out that he hadn't heard anything.
He only imagined it. Wasn't it funny
of him?"
Gay read the words over and over
again. When Aunt Judy's letter ar
rived, she had determined at once to
give up the ensuing weeks festivities,
and having made the sacrifice with a
full desire to do her duty, she had
| come with a cheerful smile and willing
hands to amuse and entertain her
somewhat exacting relative. As day
after day she set herself resolutely to
her task, the remembrance of the gay
cites her sisters were enjoying filled
her less with a desire to participate in
them. She felt that, after all, such
pleasures had but a very feeting
charm for her; that there was a void
in her life which amusements could
never fill. When four years ago, Theo-
dore Marston went away, after weeks
OF GOODNESS and misunderstanding,
followed by a painful and stormy in
terveiw, Gabrielle knew that his going
would leave an everlasting blank in
her life. The pride which had prevent
ell any attempt at reconciliation pre-
vented also any betrayal OF feeling to
the outside world. There had never
been any engagement, and no one
not even her sisters-thought of attri-
buting Theodore's departure to Ga
brielle's apparent indifference, or the
gradual change in Gabrielle's whole
nature TO Theodore's departure.
Gay herself scarcely knew that she
was changed. The old buoyant,
youthful spirit was, indeed, still upper
most; but the innocent, thoughtless
gayety was gone forever. The in
herent pride of her nature stood her
in good stead. Thoroughly at a loss
to understand Theodore's sudden
GOODNESS at a time when the friend
ship between them had been very
warm and close, she resolved to shut
up her heart upon him, and she en-
deavored to keep her resolve, al
though the experience ofthe long years
that followed taught her that it was
but q vain endeavor.
Now, at last, he had come back and
had seen her sisters. The thought of